by RM Brewer
Chuck held up his hands when Mei offered him a cup. "I really shouldn't. I'm on duty, you know."
"Worried about Mrs. Wong's cat going up a tree again, are you?" Jodie smirked at Chuck.
Chuck puffed his chest out. "Actually, I visited Ms. Wong the other day. You do know she's a widow, don't you? She's all alone. That cat means a lot to her."
"Uh, oh," Jodie said. "Does that mean what I think it does? You never cease to amaze me, Charles Wending." Inside, Jodie was elated Chuck had made a new friend. She so wanted him to be happy.
Chuck smiled at her. "You never cease to amaze me either, Jodie Watts."
Headlights flashed on the forest road and the screen door slammed behind them. Jodie turned to see Fester sprinting through the woods toward the road.
"Well, that's definitely Claire, now," Chuck said. "I take it she's fully recovered?"
Mei nodded. "Fester had better watch out. He leaves us as a boy, but will come back as a man."
Chuck let out a giggle that sounded like it had come from a small girl and the three of them burst into laughter, going until their tears ran steady. In the distance, they could see Claire's car stop and Fester jump in.
When they'd finally calmed down from Mei's joke, Jodie placed some kindling in the fire pit ring and lit a match. The flames were mesmerizing and she found herself drawn into contemplation.
"Jodie, what did you decide about going back to work?" Mei asked. "I keep thinking there's no way the FBI could operate without you . . . well, especially now that there is so little FBI left."
Jodie shook her head. "I'm not going back. I'm done"
Chuck cleared his throat. "Do you think you'll be able to stand not being in the thick of things? Not knowing what's going on?"
"I know enough already. When Claire went for her last briefing, she found out that the military – the real military, not the Gypsum infested military – located what they thought were the last large groups of virals. She said there was still a stockpile of that viral gas at every Gypsum facility except Nellis, so they were able to get rid of a lot of them pretty quickly.”
“A lot of them, but not all of them, though, right?” Mei asked.
“They’re still out in wilderness areas . . . ”Jodie paused and looked out into the dark forest. “But not for long. The military will keep hunting them until they’re gone. But, the best thing is the virus isn’t spreading anymore because the CDC was able to create an antidote with our blood.” Jodie reached out and squeezed Chuck’s arm. “Besides that, there is no thick of things for me anymore. There is no more FBI. Renfro and McKinley were probably killed if they were anywhere near that alien outpost. It's all Homeland Security now. Nobody seems to trust the FBI anymore."
"Well, I guess you can't blame them for that, but you two," Mei said, gesturing at Jodie and Chuck, "An FBI agent and a local cop, were responsible for saving the world. Surely, there's a place for both of you at the head of the world security table."
Jodie glanced over at Chuck. He looked back and shook his head. "We're more into cats these days. And Asian women." In her mind, Jodie knew she'd miss being involved in cleaning up after Gypsum, but working for the government really wasn't in her heart anymore. She'd been awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for bravery. Claire and Fester had also been awarded medals and Chuck had received one as well, his second since the Gypsum assault began.
Once the ceremonies were over and the threat of virals and aliens all but exterminated, she'd retired from the government with a generous severance package. Pretty boring when compared to what her life had been for the past two years, but now was the time to be alone with Mei and appreciate the wonder of natural places. Her work was done. Besides that, Claire had earned a high-level post with Homeland Security and would keep her informed if anything came up she needed to know about.
Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked. Jodie looked up to see Hunter jumping from Nick's pickup truck, which had stopped at the end of the driveway. The truck moved ahead as Hunter ran toward them at a ferocious pace. He reached them in seconds, jumping and leaping with joy, his tail wagging constantly. When they pulled into the driveway, Jodie stood to greet Nick, Christy, and Noah.
Nick approached her with a smile on his face. “Say, whose car is that on the forest road? The windows are all steamed up."
Jodie, Mei, and Chuck burst into laughter.
Mei wiped the tears from her eyes. "Left us as a
boy . . ."
"What?" Nick asked. "What's so funny?"
Jodie pulled him and Christy over to a chair by the fire. "Well, Fester probably has something he wants to talk to you about."
"Fester?" Christy asked. "In the car? Our Fester?"
"Whoa," Noah said. "You're gonna let him get away with that?"
"It's the apocalypse, Noah," Jodie said. "Give him a break."
Christy's look of concern faded into a smile. "Yes, Noah, and don't you ever think of doing such a thing at your age. Now, where is that wine?"
* * *
The campfire glowed red on the faces of her friends as her father spoke animatedly about nuclear weapons and what would happen if they exploded in a space environment. Jodie smiled as Claire and Fester huddled closer together, ignoring the conversation, too enthralled with each other to notice anything else. Debi and Bill had stopped by earlier to join in the celebration, bringing a stack of pies with them to share. As Debi served pie and Bill fought to keep his eyes open listening to her father, Jodie felt comforted. Seeing her friends and family surrounding the blazing fire was heartwarming. Jodie remembered thinking not too long ago that she'd never be with any of them again.
She looked over at Chuck, who seemed to be losing interest in the discussion. In fact, he appeared to be a little melancholy.
"It's almost time for our countdown. I'm going inside for more wine," Jodie said, standing up. "Chuck, would you give me a hand?"
Chuck stood up quickly. "Yeah, sure."
When they got inside, Jodie turned to him. "What's wrong? You know you can't keep things from me."
Chuck looked away. "Well, I know it sounds crazy, but I'm a little upset that my horde had to die because of Gypsum. They did what I asked and it killed them."
Jodie didn't know what to think. "Yeah, but Chuck, they were already dead. They wouldn't want to exist like that."
Moving to the opposite side of the kitchen, he leaned against the counter. "We don't know that, though, do we? We don't really know if they have complex thoughts. I mean, when I was able to tell what they were thinking, I kind of got the sense their brains were mush, but we don't know what they could feel."
"Well, I can tell you from personal experience . . . " Jodie paused to gather her thoughts. "I can tell you that I wanted to die when I was infected. I would've died to bring Gypsum down. I would've sacrificed anything."
Chuck nodded. "I guess you're right," He paused and looked out the window. "It's just sad that so many people had to be infected in the first place."
Jodie felt the weight of what he said. "Yes, sad is kind of an understatement, isn't it? But, if you hadn't loaded them up on the ship, they would've been gassed here or shot by what was left of the military. You did the right thing, Chuck."
Chuck looked down at his feet.
"What?" Jodie asked. "What's bothering you, really?"
Chuck looked Jodie in the eyes. "I'm also a little unsure if what I did to Hana was the right thing."
"What do you mean, what you did to Hana?"
* * *
Hana woke, feeling like she was choking on something. With each passing second, she became more aware of her surroundings. The cryotube felt extremely cramped and she could barely shift her body in any direction. This was different than what it had felt like before when she'd gone through training. Well, at least she was relieved to know she was on the ship. When they arrived at the outpost, Ted Renfro and Walter McKinley would be there to greet her. Once they realized the mistake and got her out of thi
s damn thing, surely she'd receive a medal for all of the work she'd done to further the cause.
Yet, something wasn't right. How had she gotten into this cryotube? Who had put her here? It seemed odd that she couldn't move her arms. She felt around with her fingers, finding that her arms were taped to her sides. Besides that, someone had put her in the tube with all of her clothes on. The cryosleep fluid would be contaminated. Her anxiety ramped up to high when she thought about the consequences of sucking in the tainted fluid, yet she was distracted. What was that beeping noise? She pushed her head down as far as she could, trying to see where it was coming from. Tilting her head sideways, she could finally make out the source of the sound.
In front of her, taped to her legs was a long metal tube. An illuminated panel blinked on and off, casting a red glow to the fluid she in which she was submerged. She pushed her head down farther, finally able to see the display.
"11 . . . 10 . . . 9 . . ."
Hana tried to open her mouth to scream, but couldn't. Instead, she choked violently on the tube snaking down her throat until the timer hit zero. Then, her world transformed into pure white light, finally fading to absolute darkness.
EPILOGUE
From the Mountain City Times, September 25, 2040:
Stargazers and skywatchers alike were treated to a most amazing sight last night as a major celestial event took place in the outer reaches of the Milky Way galaxy. While scientists disagree on the origin and nature of this event, it created a spectacular display for several hours, filling the night sky of both hemispheres with bursts of light in tremendous color.
In the United States, United Kingdom, Russia and China, the display prompted activation of the military on high alert. Meanwhile, local religious factions declared that the end of the world was at hand.
Demonstrations remain active today, with several groups asserting the apocalypse is imminent.
More on this story as it develops.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
R.M. Brewer is the author of the Dark Rift series, which she developed in homage to a life-long fascination with science fiction, space travel, and alien folklore. R.M. Brewer lives in Wisconsin, where the night skies are always filled with wonder.
ALSO BY R.M. BREWER
The Dark Rift: Ascension (Book One)
The Dark Rift: Retaliation (Book Two)
and Short Stories
To Protect and Serve: Chuck's Story
The Long Ride Home